Something about Mary, a story by Valerie Horne

“There’s Something
About Mary”

by Valerie Horne

Not long ago, I pulled out my elementary school scrapbook. Amid the yellowing tape, barely clinging to old pictures, brochures, and souvenirs, was a newspaper clipping featuring Mary Melton and other classmates when we were in the sixth grade. Just seeing the image of Mary Melton conjured up sweet memories.

Mary Melton came to Ahoskie Graded School as a result of integration.

Valerie Horne loaned me this News-Herald
clipping from March 13, 1967. When I arrived at
Ahoskie High in 1968, I was surrounded by loving
Jones cousins I hadn't known well or at all. Half
of them were Mary and her older siblings,
Marilyn Renee, Patricia and Carroll Jr. They
previously attended Robert L. Vann School
while I was from Calvin Scott Brown School.

Children at the time of any momentous occasion may not know the specifics, the hows, and whys. But children pick up signals from their parents and teachers and other adults. I remember no fear concerning integration, but more a feeling of excitement, a feeling of being on the threshold of changing times.

Mary Melton, for me, was the face of integration along with our classmate, Alexis Lipsitz.

As long as I live, I will never forget looking up and seeing Alexis grab Mary’s hand. She brought Mary out to the playground, holding Mary’s hand. When I looked up and saw Mary and Alexis walking toward us hand-in-hand, I felt an immediate sense of relief. Alexis was smart and she was an original. If Alexis was going to embrace Mary and integration, then so were the rest of us.

Predictions by any of the adults were borne away with the wind. And in its place was left peace and sweetness.

" Typical March Day combines
spring winds with racing cluds in the delight of these two little Ahoskie Grade School pupils, Amy Lipsitz
and Sharon Sumner, who are seen
on the playground during recess, where tufts of sturdy grass are
pushing the sun."

I am instantly taken by this photograph from Valerie's
scrapbook. I like to think this
image was made by the
News-Herald's Marie Wood
and her Rolleiflex. Integration
gave me the chance to photograph
for the News-Herald thru Ahoskie
High's yearbook committee.

When I mentioned this memory to Alexis many years later, she had no recall. I wondered if I had dreamed this incident. No, I decided. Grabbing Mary’s hand, understanding that Mary must have had fears, was just something that Alexis Lipsitz would do and then forget.

Alexis was a target, herself, in school. I personally witnessed two instances when teachers treated Alexis horribly and I didn’t understand why at the time. As a child, I only realized prejudice against poor white folks and blacks. Only later, did I realize the prejudice against Jewish people and others.

But returning to Mary Melton, I am reminded of the title to the comedy, “There’s Something About Mary.” Yes, there was something about Mary Melton. Was I her best friend? No. Were we intimate? No. Many people knew her better.

Mary (or Fifi as we all called her) at the Jones cemetery on Bluefoot Road in 1993 during our reunion. The next time I saw her, she was dressed and resting on the bed at Walter Reid Army Hospital near my home. Sitting with her was her high school sweetheart and husband, Cameron Bowser, gently stroking her hand.

There was something special about Mary Melton. She had an aura of gentleness, goodness, and sweetness. She transcended the color of her skin and showed the rest of us what beauty really is. Not only was Mary beautiful on the outside, but she was beautiful on the inside. Her quiet presence infused our days at school like the calming aroma of lavender.

When I heard that Mary had passed away, I wondered. Is this another case of “the good they die young?” Was she terrified to go to a white school, but was able to hide that terror under her sweet smile? How did she have so much courage and class? My hat goes off to her family and her support system.

All through school, I never saw Mary act in any way that wasn’t sweet and gentle. She was a heroine and I am left to grieve my missed opportunity to tell her at some future class reunion what a privilege it was to know her and to be her classmate.

Valerie Horne lives in Petaluma, California. Her uncle
Jim Pearce was the creator of THE POOR TOWN NEWS.

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